Mekhi Brown: Tale of a King

What is a WRLD? And what is WholeWRLD? 

WholeWRLD isn’t just a brand—it’s a tag. Most importantly, it has no fixed meaning; it’s whatever you make it. It’s how you define and observe your world, your vision. It’s whatever brings you happiness—that’s your WRLD, and you make it part of the WholeWRLD.

What Is Mekhi's WRLD?

"My WRLD is always having a positive mindset- every single day, even when things don’t go the way I hope. That feeling of teamwork, pushing through your limits, and celebrating victories together, brings me joy and lets me connect with teammates."

Who is Mekhi Brown ?

“I'm Mekhi, my nickname is ki."

Mekhi Brown is a star football player in the state of Rhode Island for the Hope High School Blue Wave. He's become a dominant player in his division growing from a grassroots freshman who finally picked up on his passion to a 3 time varsity captain for the Blue Wave, as well as multiple All-Division selections. Through his junior he'd  compete at multiple D1 football camps for the University of Rhode Island, Syracuse University, and Bryant University. Picking Up PWO's from Bryant, and URI respectively. Through those opportunities he'd be mentored by players such as Byron Washington (Syracuse), Moses Meus (URI), and AJ Pena (URI), and receive praise his play and attitude from Head Coach Fran Brown (Syracuse), Chris Merritt (Bryant), and Jim Flemming (URI).

Mekhi Brown, born in Providence, Rhode Island primarily grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. As a child his interests were like most kids-WWE, football, video games, and action figures, etc. WWE action figures were his favorite toys to be exact, as a kid he had an entire playset with a wrestling ring, chairs, and a bunch of action figures. In his own words "I honestly loved WWE as a kid, it was a core memory of my childhood."

Like most kids he grew out of toys, still having love for them but preferring other things-that change for Mekhi was football. He grew up a Kansas City Chiefs fan watching Alex Smith lead the offense, due to that growing love for football eagerly wanted to play on the gridiron. As a kid his biggest inspiration was Aaron Donald, "Aaron Donald inspired me in football because his relentless work ethic and dedication to his craft, it inspired me to push myself harder in everything I do, both on and off the field."  I asked Mekhi what football meant to him, "Football means a lot to me, I like the physicality of the sport and the competition, not to mention the friendships you can make out of the sport, or the excitement on game day."

It wasn't till his teen years as a freshman in high school that Mekhi would finally be able to play football for the Hope High School Blue Wave. Unlike most high schools Hope was notoriously named the worst football team in the state by peers and adults, but Mekhi wanted to lead a change for his community.

After ending his freshman year 0-10 not only did he face backlash from his community, the school, and his rivals, he also lost his head coach. "Ending my freshman year with no head coach was probably the worst thing that ever could've happened to me. I had no type of preparation,the coaches didn't know what they were doing, and I wasn't going to risk myself to injury. So I shifted my focus to basketball." Through his freshman campaign he would end up winning MVP for Hope High School's freshman basketball team, he knew he was capable of greater things and his mind was on transferring to Central High School.

In the spring of his freshmen year a new Head Coach was hired, Peter Quaweay a football coach who spent time growing up in Providence and played football for the Michigan State Spartans. He was a legacy of the Nick Saban Coaching Tree with multiple years at the Division 1 level under his belt, with athletes in the NFL, and years of championship experience from his time in the DMV, and Rhode Island. He had mastered the turn around of small programs and brought them championships, and collegiate scholarships, and beyond that, someone who knew the same struggles as the kids he surrounded himself with. 

Having a coach of such a high caliber bring his talent, and experience to "the worst team in the state" was no short of a miracle. Once he was hired he knew he had his work cut out for himself, he tried to salvage whatever was left of the pre-existing football team which would eventually lead him to Mekhi Brown. "When I first met Coach Q he tried to convince me to stick with football, he told me what I'm capable of and the highest levels he’s coached. He didn't just show me what he's done for other people  he showed me his belief in me. All he ever asked for was to buy in to believe in the vision of how great I could become." 

"After my freshman year I thought there wasn’t going to be a football program for Hope, once Coach Q came we got a couple more kids and he made sure we was in the weight room getting Bigger,Stronger,Faster. It wasn't easy but Coach Q and the rest of the coaching staff kept me motivated."

Mekhi had dealt with adversity through the tenure of his high school football career under Coach Q, he battled through sunday afternoons drilling and skill development, the soreness for lifting as hard as he did, the late nights and long early mornings, off-season after off-season being consistent, lifting and pushing through his limits-embodying the motto passed down to him "Bigger,Stronger,Faster." While others stayed home, slept in, or played other sports, Mekhi worked as hard as he could then more as he developed  not only as a football player but as a young man.

Thankfully to Mekhi's dedication he managed to get his first offer to play football, "When I got my first offer from Springfield College was pumped, coming from a school like Hope High School it makes recruiting so much harder, not to mention the bad track record we had-it just felt like just the beginning." 

Mekhi would end up receiving 2 other offers from Umass Dartmouth and Husson University which he would later commit to in March  of his senior year.  I asked Mekhi about the impact this leather ball has had on his life, "Football has changed my life for the better, it's given me the opportunity to go to college, and the chance to play college football at Husson University. What started as something new turned into a passion that shaped my mindset, work ethic, and character."

I dove deeper on why Mekhi committed to Husson University, he spoke about his time up in Maine. "I made my decision to commit to Husson University because it felt like home,  when i was on campus up in Bangor Maine, the coaches and players made me feel like I belonged there. I was extremely blessed when Coach Buzzell (Husson University) came through." 

Outside of doing something great for his community and winning football games Mekhi has had his head on his shoulders looking towards the future. "My goal at first was definitely to make it to the NFL but as of now I’m not to focused on that, my mindset can completely change throughout my college and football career so I feel only time will tell."

Coming from a kid who didn't know what or where he truly wanted to be in life having a mentor is so vital as a young man, he credits Coach Q for his development, "Coach Q was the most impactful to my development, he constantly pushed me to be the best that I can be and  always explained to me what it takes to be great."

Mekhi talked about the statement he hopes to make with football, " The statement  I hope to make through football, is to demonstrate the power of teamwork, discipline, and perseverance, showing that with hard work and dedication, any goal can be achieved, both on and off the field."

We closed off this discussion talking about Mekhi's "why ?" He told WholeWRLD,   "my why is my parents, the dedication and sacrifices both my mom and dad have made for me by pushing myself to be the best player and teammate I can be. They're the reason I want to use the skills and lessons I learn on the field to make a positive impact in my community.